[Avodah] berachos 7a; schena and nevuah???

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Oct 05, 2009 at 2:42am EDT (really, at close to 3am?), R' Yosef
Skolnick wrote:
: I would highly recommend that we establish a good definition of both of
: those terms before speculating.  The term shechina is often used to refer to
: times when you can see what hashem wants through the actions of people.  The
: term nevua is used when there is a direct speaking between G-D and man.
: I am not quite sure those definitions are accurate but they may be a good
: starting point in a discussion of the matter.  Looking forward to seeing how
: this conversation develops.

I discussed "Shechinah" in a Mesukim miDevash column for Mishpatim
<http://www.aishdas.org/mesukim/5764/mishpatim.pdf>. I try to address
the question of how various rishonim define nevu'ah, and thus how they
understand the "Man" in the throne the zeqeinim see at Har Sinai.

R' Saadia Gaon (EvD 2:10) defines shechinah as any miraculous thing that
reminds the viewer that Hashem is shochein beqibrbo. Including the amud
ha'eish and amud ha'anan, the vision at Har Sinai, the vision of the
Merkavah, etc...

R' Saadia Gaon says the zeqeinim saw the kavod nivra, and that the kavod
nivra can be physical.

The Rambam's position is similar, but
(1) He warns you that the phrase "kevod H'" could be either the kavod
nivra or HQBH Himself, and
(2) The Rambam holds that kavod nivra is not physical, and can only be
seen bederekh nevu'ah. Thus ruling out the amud ha'eish and amud
ha'anan.
And more importantly to our conversaition
(3) his discussion here is about kavod nivra exclusively, not mentioning
the shechinah.

According to the Ramban (Bereishis 46:1), "Sh-echinah" is a sheim Hashem.
(Which is why in this paragraph I capitalized and hyphenated it.) The
Ramban explains that nevu'ah is reception of a message by parable, and
therefore seeing G-d in nevu'ah isn't a philosophical problem -- it's
seeing a mashal that represents HQBH in the message being given.

The Rambam holds that nevu'ah is the sight of a metaphysical reality,
which is
(1) The Abarbanel on the Moreh's answer to the Ramban's question about
how could the bulk of parashas Vayeira be nevu'ah. The Ramban assumes
that nevu'ah means something that didn't really happen, but the Rambam
disagrees -- it did really happen, even if what is seen in the vision is
the non-physical side of the events.
and
(2) Why he has to say the "Man" in the throne at har Sinai, or in the
Merkavah, is a created entity.

Thus to answer Harvey's 2nd question:
:>                                                    . does this request
:> include prophecy? E.g are the scheina and nevua related?

They aren't necessarily related. HOWEVER,

According to both the Rambam and the Kuzari, in order to be capable
of experiencing a neis, one must already be capable of experiencing
nevu'ah.

The Kuzari directly addresses your question. Quoting Hartwig's
translation of 5:23 from
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Kitab_al_Khazari/Part_Five>:
    The Rabbi answered: The visible Shekhin.h has, indeed, disappeared,
    because it does not reveal itself except to a prophet or a favoured
    community, and in a distinguished place. This is what we look for in
    the passage: 'Let our eyes behold when Thou returnest to Zion.' As
    regards the invisible and spiritual Shekhin.h, it is with every born
    Israelite of virtuous life, pure heart, and upright mind before the
    Lord of Israel. Palestine is especially distinguished by the Lord of
    Israel, and no function can be perfect except there. ...
[Rest of the Chakham's argument as to why he was leaving Kazaria for
Israel, deleted.]

As for the Rambam, it's less straightforward. The Rambam says that not
everyone capable of nevu'ah is granted one -- Hashem may defy the causal
order and hold back the navi from getting nevu'ah. Leshitaso, a navi
NOT getting nevu'ah is a neis. So it seems the Rambam would admit the
possibility that someone may have turned himself into someone capable
of nevu'ah and even of getting nissim, but never actually gets nevu'ah.
And, the shechinah and neis are different concepts. It's R' Saadia whose
definitions connect them by saying the kavod nivra could be physical
and also by explicitly saying it is the shechinah.

Related to this notion linking nevu'ah and neis is the Maharal's notions
(as explained by REED), that neis is a function of lifting one's
perceptions to the plane where the laws of olam hayetzirah (morality and
justice) are more absolute that those of olam ha'asiyah (the laws of
physics). Thus making neis, like nevu'ah, a matter of developing oneself
and consequently one's perception of the universe.

:> Does one need one for the other??
:>  3. Can we learn out kal v'chomer that if the shechina resides only with
:> israel, then for sure nevuah does??? HB

According to the Kuzari (1:115), what makes ezrachei (not geirim!) Benei
Yisrael special is a metaphysical something that also gives us the
capability of becoming nevi'im. This is a difference in kind between
the ezrach on one hand, and the geir and nachri on the other. (I can't
claim to be reconciled with this notion by a long shot.)

The questions are Ovadiah, who the gemara tells us was a geir from Edom
(Sanhedrin 29b), and of course Bil'am. The Otzar Nechmad (al haKuzari,
sham) writes that Ovadiah was an intentional exception because the only
one there would be any chance of Edom listening to would be one of their
own. I don't know about Bil'am.

With berakhos to RYSkolnik that he manage more sleep...
G'moed!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             One doesn't learn mussar to be a tzaddik,
micha at aishdas.org        but to become a tzaddik.
http://www.aishdas.org                         - Rav Yisrael Salanter
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